Although he did not know the exact process, with Vegapunk's intellect, he could roughly infer what had happened.
I never wanted Kuma to die in that form in the first place. What does Saturn's twisted taste have to do with me?
It is best if it fails. The Pacifista were created for the sake of world peace!
Since someone helped Kuma and even succeeded in making the World Government forget about it, then there is no need to retrieve any "prototype."
However, I need to prepare properly this time and cover up the relevant issues.
Last time, I failed to anticipate that the World Government was monitoring me. That was what led to the tragedy that befell Kuma.
Vegapunk's mind spun at incredible speed, yet his expression remained calm, as if nothing had happened at all.
And at that moment, his train of thought continued—or rather, it was extended by another segment.
Come to think of it… it was also because of my oversight that Kuma was gradually modified, forced to lose everything as the prototype.
Bonney's illness did not need to be repaid with his life. If I have the chance to see you again, I will make it up to you, Kuma.
When Vegapunk gave birth to that thought, Ren's will was dragged back to its original place.
The wish had ended.
The chips had burned away, but only about ten million had been consumed. Compared to six billion, it did not seem beyond the rules.
Is it because Vegapunk himself already had such intentions, and the only person affected was him?
Ren distinguished the differences, trying to feel out the rules by which the wishing machine took effect.
However, that matter was not the highest priority. He still had a pile of things on his hands.
The newspaper from the World Economic Journal had revealed a major event.
Ace, the extremely dazzling Supernova from several years ago who later joined the Whitebeard Pirates, had been defeated by Blackbeard Teach on Banaro Island!
The report recorded many details, such as Blackbeard's background, Ace's battle record, and so on.
Ren only paid attention to the fact that Ace had been defeated by Blackbeard.
Or rather, to the appearance of that signal.
He then checked on the recent movements of Luffy's crew. Perhaps because of the butterfly effect he had caused, the Straw Hat Pirates had still appeared, but the route they took was no longer the original one.
Instead, they had taken another route along the Grand Line.
For example, a certain fellow nicknamed "Gang" who could transform into a tank castle had recently been defeated by Luffy.
That caused Luffy's fame to soar dramatically. Judging by their position along the route, he was almost about to arrive at the Sabaody Archipelago.
After that, he would cause a huge commotion while bearing the title of Supernova.
Is it about to begin? I need to act as soon as possible for the Marineford War.
Ren did not pay too much attention to Luffy's crew. The reason he liked pirates was not because of Luffy, but because of Zoro and a whole group of beautiful female characters.
Moreover, with the great war imminent, strengthening his power was the most urgent matter.
The first thing he did was—draw prizes.
There were still around twenty billion Beli in the Dimensional Roulette's account, enough for him to make one independent enhancement.
Yes.
Not a prize draw, nor adding any new ability.
It was another major enhancement aimed specifically at his Haki aptitude.
But there was also a difference.
His datafication ability integrated Ren as a whole, but through Ren's continued research, this ability from a grand prize was not so simple.
It could integrate abilities and enhance them. It could also… separate them and calculate them independently.
For example… isolating his Conqueror's Haki aptitude!
Conqueror's Haki. The strong who stand at the peak of the world all possess the technique of Conqueror's Haki Infusion. At the very least, Kaido does.
Especially Red-Haired Shanks. His skill in Conqueror's Haki coating is probably even more terrifying.
As for Big Mom, that move Hakai should be a combination technique using Conqueror's Haki Infusion.
Among the Four Emperors, three already know Conqueror's Haki Infusion. Whitebeard probably knows it too… the difference is that he may be unable to use it due to excessive aging.
Otherwise, he would not have refrained from using it during the Marineford War. In any case, it is an indispensable ticket to reaching the level of a true peak powerhouse.
For me, Conqueror's Haki is an extremely good path for improvement.
After reviewing the Dressrosa battle, one fact can be confirmed.
Compared to compressing energy, compressing Haki is much more efficient. The loss is lower, and the upper limit is higher.
Ren weighed the pros and cons of this choice.
Reviewing past battles was something he often did. The main purpose was to let himself clearly recognize his own shortcomings.
In the battle at Dressrosa, although he had exhausted everything to leave Kaido with a permanent scar, he had also seen the limitations of that path. To summarize, the consumption was too great, the conversion ratio was too low, and the gains fell below expectations.
If ordinary energy was to be compressed, it required sufficiently powerful external interference.
For example, there was no material capable of withstanding plasma, so real-world technology developed in the direction of magnetic confinement.
As for Ren, he used himself as the "material" to withstand that power.
When he fought Kaido, in pursuit of ultimate killing power, he continuously compressed energy.
Then came the question.
What was Ren using to compress that energy?
Was it only the control granted by Thunder and Flame Mastery?
That was plasma, something of the same essence as the sun!
To maintain the fourth state of matter in a stable form, and to keep it in that state without killing himself first, required an enormous amount of power.
So the answer was—Haki!
Or rather, fusion Qi, a blend of Haki and Qi.
By wrapping energy with Haki, he obtained control over vast energy.
He also relied on Haki's characteristic of being compressible into high density to carry energy along and compress it together.
However, sometimes he also needed to construct external pressure, such as with the Thunderflame Greatblade series.
Admittedly, by relying on that method and constantly combining the cards in his hand, Ren possessed strength far beyond the limits of what an A-rank should have.
That was why King had been brutally beaten by him and suppressed one-sidedly.
But when facing an opponent like Kaido, who was truly at S-rank, that power began to show flaws everywhere.
Leaving aside everything else, stamina alone was a problem.
Ren's Meteor Burst was still manageable, but Phase Two required him to rely on Haki to wrap around his energy.
Its consumption rate was even more terrifying than fully covering his body in Armament Haki.
That caused his combat duration to be unbelievably short.
If a normal pirate powerhouse used Haki locally, constantly fought a battle of attrition, and then watched for an opportunity to decide victory, then Ren was a clean and decisive assassin-type combatant. He started from information advantage and killed his opponent within an extremely brief window of time.
He often targeted internal destruction to avoid falling into a battle of attrition.
However, against Kaido—no, it should be said starting from King—his attack power was no longer strong enough. He had no way to kill with one strike.
Based on that line of thought, the most suitable method of improvement at present was probably Conqueror's Haki Infusion.
Luffy studied Haki basics for two years, then under three of Kaido's blows, he completed Ryuo, Conqueror's Haki Infusion, and Awakening.
On one hand, that was definitely because life-and-death combat brings the greatest improvement. On the other hand, it was probably talent.
My requirements are not high. As long as I can learn Conqueror's Haki Infusion, that is enough.
Ren finalized his decision.
His original Haki talent had already become terrifying after two enhancements.
He had learned the technique of internal destruction before advancing to Advanced Armament Haki. Otherwise, when they first met, that slash would not have been able to wound Kaido.
After that, under Kaido's pressure, he had also advanced to Advanced Armament Haki.
The scale of his Haki reserves was also abundant. Otherwise, he would not have been able to maintain his Phase Two: Fallen Angel form.
And now…
If he smashed more than twenty billion into his Conqueror's Haki aptitude, he refused to believe he could not reach Luffy's level!
Of course, aptitude was one thing. A learning channel was another.
Because of the solution regarding Kuma, the Revolutionary Army's commanders had all given him gifts of gratitude.
Dragon's gift of thanks was guidance regarding Conqueror's Haki.
It just so happened to fill the empty position of a teacher.
It was worth mentioning that Ren's Conqueror's Haki had begun awakening back in Mock Town, only not many people knew about it.
But he had actually used the Revolutionary Army's channels to release the message that "he wanted to find someone capable of teaching him how to use Conqueror's Haki."
In essence, that was a signal.
It told the Revolutionary Army that he had awakened Conqueror's Haki and had realized the value of that power.
If there was no one in the Revolutionary Army, which resisted the World Government, who could use Conqueror's Haki Infusion…
Then that would be underestimating Dragon, the leader of the Revolutionary Army, far too much.
From a narrative perspective, characters who appear later are definitely stronger.
From a realistic perspective, how could Dragon possibly not have Conqueror's Haki and Conqueror's Haki Infusion techniques?
But Dragon had not immediately come to find him after hearing the news.
The reason was also very simple.
Ren and the Revolutionary Army were strategic allies. They had common ideals and pursuits.
—To overthrow the World Government.
But that did not mean they were an intimate, inseparable group.
Even though Ren believed the Revolutionary Army was one of the main forces in overthrowing the World Government, and was willing to pave the way for them by bringing in Tesoro's support…
Even though he had previously given them intelligence on the whereabouts of the Ancient Weapons and so on…
He understood very clearly that the Revolutionary Army, which possessed that kind of restraint and could coldly watch its comrades die, was never something he could rely on.
The two sides could cooperate. They could advance and retreat together. But they were absolutely not one group.
It was precisely because of that that Ren maintained a cooperative posture and interacted with the Revolutionary Army through a one-for-one style of dealing.
That approach brought many benefits. For example, the Revolutionary Army would not think Ren had any obligation to help them.
Therefore, Chester's price was acceptable. Therefore, mobilizing the Revolutionary Army's power because of one request from Ren was also acceptable.
But conversely, Dragon also had to consider what bargaining chips he had on hand to trade if he needed to ask Ren for something.
Clearly, instruction in Conqueror's Haki was one of them.
And because of Kuma's liberation, combined with Tesoro's assistance…
Dragon finally decided to give a return and asked whether Ren was interested in Conqueror's Haki instruction.
This was a very realistic development.
And now, that development had occurred naturally.
When Ren completed the enhancement of his Conqueror's Haki aptitude, leaving only a few hundred million Beli in the account as emergency funds…
Dragon also arrived at Skypiea and began teaching Ren the techniques in that field.
By then, the Marineford War was already very close.
Ren's choice was to unfold the Space-Time: The Creator card.
Under the condition of only stretching the flow of time, he studied one-on-one with Dragon.
"What a terrifying method, Ren. Is this also your Devil Fruit ability?"
At that moment, Dragon stood within the Creator Domain, his expression surprised as he sensed this stretch of "heaven and earth."
"Rather, the fact that you were willing to appear here is what surprised me more."
Ren retorted.
(End of Chapter)